


won't you stay, stay with me

by scepticallyopenminded



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Angst, Blow Jobs, Feelings, Fluff, Implied Past Underage, Insecure Derek, M/M, Magic Enhanced Sex, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Marriage Proposal, Mates, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Misunderstandings, Riding, Rimming, Smut, Speculation of Cheating, a bit - Freeform, they are dating when stiles is 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-03-11 05:40:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3316244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scepticallyopenminded/pseuds/scepticallyopenminded
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To say he thought about it was an understatement. Derek thought about it a lot. Almost all the time, even when they were in the middle of a pack meeting and talking about things completely unrelated to college or the future or anything, even once when he was actually mid-fight with a pair of sprites.</p><p>The thing was, he really did want to move down to Palo Alto with Stiles, he really did want to spend the rest of his life with Stiles, he really did. And yes, sure, definitely, he’d thought again and again about making Stiles his mate, and maybe someday his husband, locked together by the laws of the supernatural and the humans alike. But – cliché as it may sound and be – he also realized that Stiles was only seventeen.  They’d only been dating for six months, he was only seventeen, and Derek – he also really wanted Stiles to be able to live as regular a life as possible, besides all the supernatural stuff, and having a twenty-five year old boyfriend while being a freshman in college really didn’t give off the vibe of “normal”.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. he got me locked and I don't want out

**Author's Note:**

> The first part of this has been in my notes in my phone since last summer, and I finally got around to finishing it up because I couldn't not. 
> 
> Chapter title from "About the Boy" by Little Mix, work title from "Big Parade" by The Lumineers.

It was late one afternoon, Stiles laying on Derek’s bed, Derek staring out the window with a contemplative look, when Stiles brought it up.

“Wolves mate for life, right?”

There was a pause, a snort from Derek, and a nod.

“But you already know that, I’m sure.”

Stiles bit his lip, contemplating the next question for a moment before he asked.

“What about werewolves?”

There was a longer pause this time, and Derek turned so he was facing the younger man.

“Usually,” he finally said, slowly, “Why?”

Stiles shrugged, before biting his lip again – one of his most obvious nervous habits.

“Am…am I – ”

“No,” Derek threw out before Stiles could finish, “It’s not just like that. It’s a longer process than just – I – there’s traditions, procedures, a spell. That we definitely haven’t gone through because it has to be consensual.”

Stiles looked a little…Derek would say disappointed, but surely not. Unless –

“Did you want to be?”

Stiles looked like he was going to bite his lip through, and he met his boyfriend’s eyes with a slow nod.

“I wouldn’t mind it.”

Derek sighed before letting on a slow smile.

“You’re seventeen, Stiles.”

“Almost eighteen!”

“You’re seventeen, Stiles,” Derek repeated, “You’ve still got college ahead of you, and whatever career you choose, and you’ve got time to find someone else who isn’t seven years older than you and a wolf.”

Stiles looked at him with steady eyes, expression a little annoyed.

“Were you _planning_ on breaking up with me before I go to college?”

“No,” Derek shook his head, the small smile still present, “I’m too selfish for that. I love you, I wouldn’t give you up for the world, not even if it was better for you.”

“It wouldn’t be better for me,” Stiles asserted, “I’m in love with you, asshole, in love with you as much as you are with me, breaking up with me would only break my heart.”

“Maybe,” Derek consented, “Probably not.” Because – and Stiles knew this – Derek had been in love with him or ages, long before they started dating, and Stiles had – had more seen him as a sort-of friend who was really hot until Derek had up and said “fuck it” not long after Stiles’ seventeenth birthday and just kissed him.

“I am enough,” Stiles said, a bit quieter, “I am enough to make my own decisions about us.”

“Stiles,” Derek started, a little bit exasperated now, “You’re a human. If I mated you, and we broke up, you’d feel some pull towards me – something stronger than normal breakup feelings, I think. You’d hurt for a while, a while longer than probably normal, but you’d eventually get over it. Get over me. I’m a wolf. I wouldn’t. I could only honestly get over you if you died.”

“But we wouldn’t!” Stiles sounded frustrated now, in a very particular way Derek had only heard him get frustrated around _him_ , “ _I_ wouldn’t move on. I don’t think I could. Why don’t you get it, Der? I’m _in love_ with you!”

“And you can fall in love again, and again! Who’s to say you won’t find some guy or a sweet girl at Stanford or wherever you get in. Who’s to say you won’t find someone else who’s a better fit for you? It wouldn’t be fair for me to mate you and then for you to off and find someone who’s closer to your own age and at that same time in their life.”

There was a long pause, and Derek assumed the conversation was over, that Stiles understood. The younger man was looking at his lap with an incredibly sad face, and _damn it_ he hadn’t meant to make him sad, just wanted him to _understand_. He was about to open his mouth to apologize when Stiles spoke up.

“I got in.”

There was a moment of confusion on Derek’s part before –

“Stanford? You got in?”

Stiles nodded, looking up with a half-smile.

“I got in early admission. Letter came two days ago.”

“And you waited ‘til now to tell me? Asshole,” Derek was smiling, bright and genuine – he knew Stiles had wanted to go to Stanford since – well, at least since he’d known him.

“I had some thinking to do,” Stiles shrugged, “And I have something to ask you.”

“Anything, ‘course,” Derek sat down on the bed across from his boyfriend.

“I want you to move with me.”

There was a deep, long pause, Derek staring at Stiles with a blank, shocked look.

“You what?”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot down, and he bit his lip again, quick and sharp.

“We could get an apartment. And I mean, Scott and Isaac and Erica are both just going to the community college. Allison and Boyd are going to Berkeley, Lydia’s going to MIT. Scott and Isaac and Erica can probably take care of whatever needs to be taken care of here, and you’ll only be a couple of hours away if they need you.” He paused, took a deep breath and looked back up at Derek.

“I dunno. I thought it might be an idea for you to, y’know, consider.”

Derek didn’t say anything for a couple more moments, and when he did speak it wasn’t what Stiles was hoping for or what he thought he’d say.

“How’re you going to pay for an apartment?”

Stiles stared at him before cracking the smallest of smiles.

“My dad said he’d help me pay for a little of it, and I’d have to get a job.” He paused, then, “And if you moved in with me, you could get a job, too. To stop yourself from getting bored when I’m at school.”

“You don’t think I can entertain myself?”

Stiles stuck his tongue out (almost eighteen Derek’s ass).

“Oh, I _know_ you can entertain yourself,” he replied, a raised eyebrow, and Derek rolled his eyes – teenagers and their inability to ever think about anything but sex. He looked back at Stiles after a moment, though, eyes soft.

“You want me to get a job?” he asked, and it was Stiles’ turn to stare.

“Um. Maybe. I mean, I know you don’t need the money, but…you have had a job before, right?”

“I have,” was all Derek responded. There was another long stretch of silence as they stared at each other, before Stiles spoke up.

“Would you at least think about it?”

Derek leaned over with a brighter smile, kissing Stiles ever so lightly.

“I’ll think about it.”

And that was as good as Stiles had expected, so he smiled, nodded.

****

To say he thought about it was an understatement. Derek thought about it _a lot_. Almost all the time, even when they were in the middle of a pack meeting and talking about things completely unrelated to college or the future or anything, even once when he was actually mid-fight with a pair of sprites.

The thing was, he really did want to move down to Palo Alto with Stiles, he really did want to spend the rest of his life with Stiles, he _really did_. And yes, sure, definitely, he’d thought again and again about making Stiles his mate, and maybe someday his husband, locked together by the laws of the supernatural and the humans alike. But – cliché as it may sound and be – he also realized that Stiles was only seventeen.  They’d only been dating for six months, he was only seventeen, and Derek – he also really wanted Stiles to be able to live as regular a life as possible, besides all the supernatural stuff, and having a twenty-five year old boyfriend while being a freshman in college really didn’t give off the vibe of “normal”.

And no. Under no circumstances would Derek be able to get himself to break it off with Stiles – that’d have to come completely from Stiles’ end. But Derek felt like the chances of that – of Stiles coming to his senses and breaking up with him because let’s face it, Derek still had some major emotional issues, even as he’d definitely grown up and into himself over the past couple of years – if they were to move in together were zero to none, because Stiles was a good person with a huge heart who hated hurting people. But – god, he hated himself even for how much he still hated himself – he wanted more for Stiles, wanted him to find someone who was _already_ emotionally whole, who wouldn’t need a year or two years or ten to be able to be there completely and totally for him.

He wanted Stiles to be able to feel okay about breaking up with him if he met someone else who was _better_ for him. And if they lived together, Derek felt, it would make it harder for Stiles to do that. On top of the fact that, then, he wanted Stiles to have a normal life, there was that fact. There was the fact that Stiles should experience at least a year or two of living in a dorm, with a roommate he either would hate or would get along spectacularly with. He should experience frat parties, not staying home all the time curled up on a couch with Derek and Netflix. He should experience having one night stands and short-term girlfriends and boyfriends and awkward, quiet sex in a shared bathroom and all of that.

There were a million reasons why he and Stiles shouldn’t live together while he was at school, and only one reason Derek could think of that they _should_ ; because Derek wanted it more than anything else, because Derek wanted Stiles more than anything else.

But when he sat Stiles down, four months before graduation, and explained this all to him, Stiles just smiled and shook his head.

“Derek,” he said softly, scooting over the area between them on the couch to push his way into Derek’s space, “I don’t think you fully understand. I,” he paused, looking to make sure Derek was listening carefully, “Am in love with you. I am so beyond in love with you. I never knew I could feel this way about another person. I am more in love with you than I ever thought was possible to be in love with someone. I’m eighteen now, and I.” He paused again, and Derek could see the barest hint of tears in his eyes.

“I really fucking love you, and I think I’ve lived long enough, _through_ enough, to be able to make my own decisions. I _want_ you down there with me, more than anything, I want to go through college with you by my side, I want to come home after a long day at class to _you_. If you don’t want to for some reason that _doesn’t_ have to do with me, if you want too much to stay here in Beacon Hills because it’s your territory, or any other reason that doesn’t include me, that’s okay. But don’t do say no for _my_ sake, because there is nothing I want more than _you_.”

Derek looked down at Stiles, at the boy who’d pushed his way until he was almost in Derek’s lap now, who had pushed his way until he _was_ in Derek’s heart over the past two years. And nodded.

“There’s nothing I want more than you, either.”

Derek absolutely loved when Stiles smiled like that, like he’d given him the whole world, like he was right then, and he knew he’d made the right decision.

****

“God, how many more boxes,” Stiles complained, collapsing against the wall of the apartment. Derek grunted as the Sheriff snorted.

“Not like you’ve been doing the heavy lifting,” he commented, glancing at Derek, who grinned in return.

“When you’ve got werewolf strength on your side it’s the smartest decision to make them do the heavy lifting,” Stiles retorted, going back out the door, Derek following him.

“Are you going to complain this much when we help Allison move into her dorm next week?” Derek asked, grabbing another three boxes from Stiles’ jeep.

“Show off,” Stiles grumbled, grabbing one, “And do we have to? Scott and her dad will already be there, and it’s not like she or Scott came today to help us.”

“You already promised,” Derek reminded him, shifting the boxes so he could hold open the door to the building for Stiles.

“I’ve never moved anywhere before, how was I supposed to know it’d be so hard?” he sniped back as they went up the stairs.

“Only a couple more trips and we’ll be done,” Derek told him, smiling.

“Stiles?” John questioned as they walked into the apartment, holding up a small box labelled in all caps ‘DO NOT OPEN, DAD!’ Stiles flushed a bit red, setting down the box in his arms.

“I can promise you don’t want to know.”

Derek huffed a laugh in spite of himself as the tips of his own ears went red, because _he_ knew what was in that box and the Sheriff really did _not_ want to know.

“Nothing illegal?” John asked, before shaking his head as if he regretted that question.

“No, all my paraphernalia is in the other box labelled ‘do not open’,” Stiles replied anyway, taking the box from his father and going to place it on the mattress in the bedroom. John just shook his head and grumbled, “I’m going to get another box”, accompanied by an eye roll as he left.

“I couldn’t tell if he believed you or not,” Derek commented once the older man was out the door, setting down the boxes he had. Stiles snorted, coming back into the room.

“He’s got my sarcasm down pat even more than you do,” he told him, “Just glad he heeded _that_ warning.”

“He knows you well enough to know he doesn’t want to know,” Derek agreed, pulling Stiles in for a quick peck, “Now how about we go grab the last of the boxes so we can start some unpacking before taking your dad out to dinner?”

Stiles kissed him once more before sighing with a “Yeah, let’s”.

****

It took them the entirety of the next day to finish unpacking (it might’ve taken them less time but Stiles woke Derek up with the idea of three rounds of very athletic sex to celebrate moving into their first apartment together). When they finally get done unpacking, it’s nearly nine pm, and Stiles makes a quick meal of mac ‘n’ cheese while Derek finishes hanging up their clothes.

They’re on the couch, Stiles’ head in Derek’s lap, some documentary on the History Channel on the TV, their bowls from dinner on the coffee table, when Stiles looked up at Derek.

“Would you at least consider making me you’re mate?” he asked, the first time he’d brought it up since that very first time, and Derek looked back down at him, brushed his hand through his boyfriend’s hair. He’d been waiting for Stiles to bring it up again, especially since he’d agreed to move with him, and had therefore given it a lot of thought.

“How about this,” he started, watching as Stiles’ eyes lit up at not immediately being argued with, “If we’re still together when you graduate – ”

“We will be,” Stiles told him confidently, and Derek smiled.

“I think so and hope so,” he replied, starting again, “ _When_ we’re still together when you graduate – ” Stiles grinned widely at the word change, “Then we can talk about it. If you still want to – ”

“I will,” Stiles interrupted again, and Derek put his hand over his mouth before continuing.

“If you still want it…you turn twenty three a few months after graduation. We can then.”

“Promise?” Stiles asked when Derek removed his hand, eyes sparkling with the possibility.

“I never go back on my word,” Derek replied, reaching to clasp Stiles’ hand, “I promise.”

Stiles smiled like Derek had given him the very sun. He pushed himself up to give him a kiss.

“I love you,” Derek told him as they parted, and Stiles responded a moment later.

“Love you too, Sourwolf.”


	2. tell me that you love me (even if it's fake)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek never thought he would have a mate. 
> 
> Until Stiles, he hadn’t thought it was even so much as a dream, as a possibility, for him anymore. Ever since Stiles had brought it up, though; well, it’d been three years since that moment, they’d been living together for two, and Derek thought about it every day since Stiles had uttered those words. With his other love interests – he thought his complete disinterest in doing the mating ritual with any of them had something to do with his young age at the time, but he now realized it probably had more to do with his wolf, realizing that none of them were it for him. 
> 
> Apparently, Stiles was, because both he and his wolf really liked the idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the realization that I completely suck at updating on a regular basis but. I continue on. 
> 
> title from "idfc" by Blackbear

Derek never thought he would have a mate.

When he was younger, it had been just a dream; something he thought maybe sometime in the future he _might_ want with someone, but it wasn’t anything that actively worried him or something he thought about. He’d loved Paige as much as any fifteen year old could but he’d never imagined doing the mating ceremony with her. Kate had been sort of a rebound after the tragedy that was Paige, and as much as he’d trusted her at the beginning it wasn’t anything that he’d ever thought would ever be actually _serious_. After Kate there had been a few men and women here and there but he hadn’t been able to put enough trust in someone to commit to anything other than a casual relationship, besides _mates_.

Laura had never lost hope, she’d been dating someone very seriously before she’d come back to Beacon Hills, a human who knew she was a werewolf and who Derek got along great with too and someone he’d had to contact after it all, but Derek –

Until Stiles, he hadn’t thought it was even so much as a dream, as a possibility, for him anymore. Ever _since_ Stiles had brought it up, though; well, it’d been three years since that moment, they’d been living together for two, and Derek thought about it every day since Stiles had uttered those words. With his other love interests – he thought his complete disinterest in doing the mating ritual with any of them had something to do with his young age at the time, but he now realized it probably had more to do with his wolf, realizing that none of them were it for him.

Apparently, Stiles was, because both he and his wolf _really_ liked the idea.

For two years he’d shared an apartment with Stiles, fallen more in love with the man than he’d been before. In those two years, he’d learned that Stiles was definitely mate material, he was even more confident than he’d been before.

He loved the feeling of being close to someone. Which he hadn’t thought was possible, he’d never been too much of a people person; he had friends, liked people, but he’d never really wanted someone to tell all his secrets to, someone who knew him like Stiles knew him now.

He really felt confident about it because he’d never gotten so much joy out of seeing someone else joyful, had never striven to hard to do things and be someone that would make someone else happy, but seeing Stiles happy made Derek indescribably happy.

Except – and Derek thought he was just making things up here, imagining things because he _couldn’t_ imagine being this happy. Three years ago, he hadn’t known happiness like this existed for him anymore. Actually, he hadn’t known happiness _like this_ was something that existed _at all_. His parents had been incredibly happy together, his grandparents had been so in love that they’d died within hours of each other in old age, but until now, until Stiles, he hadn’t known or understood what this happiness actually _felt_ like.

He did, now.

And it wasn’t something he ever wanted to give up; not Stiles, not them, not _this_.

Except – he thought maybe – he hated himself for thinking this, but Stiles….seemed like he was pulling away. He seemed more distant, maybe a bit colder, like maybe he was regretting it all, or at least – at least he was thinking about breaking up with Derek. And for Derek, that wasn’t an option, that wasn’t –

Stiles was his end-all-be-all, Stiles was _it_ for him.

If they broke up, and he hated being this dependent on someone, he did, but he honestly didn’t know what he would do if they broke up.

This was what he’d been afraid of when Stiles had first approached him about mating. This exact feeling, the feeling that he couldn’t go on without Stiles, because that’s what the mating ritual was supposed to do.

Apparently, he didn’t need any ceremony to make him feel that way, because they still had years before Derek would think about agreeing to it, and yet, already, he felt like Stiles was that. His mate. His everything.

Because he was.

Derek was sitting on his couch when Stiles came into the apartment, trying not to think about this, trying to write his senior thesis, because this was the year he was finally going to graduate from college, with his Bachelor’s in Linguistics and Language that he’d almost finished back at CCNY all those years ago before all the shit had gone down.

That was Stiles’ fault, too, that he was finally finishing his degree – fault in a good way. Because Stiles had impacted him in so many good ways.

“Hey,” Stiles said, smiling, and Derek looked up from his laptop and smiled back because the worst thoughts in the world couldn’t stop him from returning Stiles’ smiles when he looked like that, all soft and happy and tired from a long day and Derek moved his laptop off his lap just in time to get a lapful of Stiles, kissing him thoroughly.

“Hey,” he replied when Stiles pulled back, resting his head against Derek’s collarbone. He felt satisfied, in the moment, because sometimes it was like that, sometimes it was wonderful and just as it had been for the four years they’d been together.

Other times, though, it was like the next night.

Derek didn’t have many classes, just two; he’d been just a few credits away from graduating when he’d had to put his life on hold and go back to Beacon Hills. During his other times he worked a few hours a week at a bookstore a block from their apartment, and even then and with writing his thesis he had a lot of disposable time, and a hell of a lot more than Stiles. Which meant he was home before Stiles almost every evening, which also meant that he made dinner almost all the time.

Which was what he was doing when Stiles texted.

_don’t forget I’m going out with friends tonight e_

Which Derek _had_ forgotten, incredibly enough since Stiles went out with friends all the time.

God, Derek did _not_ want to be _that_ boyfriend, he wasn’t that boyfriend, the one that got jealous and annoyed when Stiles went out with friends, he wasn’t going to stop Stiles from hanging out with his friends, wasn’t going to so much as utter one single complaint about the lack of time he’d actually been spending with Derek lately, especially because Stiles was doing exactly what Derek had wanted him to do – having a life, living a (fairly) normal college experience. Plus with the end of the semester coming up soon, Stiles was getting progressively more stressed and if going out with his friends meant he was less stressed about it all, Derek wasn’t going to try to stop _that_. And it wasn’t like Derek didn’t like Stiles friends, no, he’d met most of them on multiple occasions and they were truly wonderful –

_don’t wait up I’ll be late :)_

Derek sighed, putting down his phone and looking at dinner, halfway prepared. This wasn’t a problem, it truly wasn’t, Stiles spent enough time (a hell of a lot of evenings and most of the weekends, usually) at home with Derek, it was just that – lately, his time with Derek _had_ been decreasing, little by little, and Derek regretted that.

He missed his boyfriend.

He thought it wouldn’t be so bad, except there was this one girl who was _extremely_ good friends with Stiles who…rubbed him the wrong way. When he’d first met her, she’d been somewhere between completely dismissive of Derek in favour of touching Stiles _a lot_ , and throwing Derek satisfied looks whenever Stiles would start paying attention to her. He hadn’t hung with her much since that first time because – Derek knew Stiles was an extremely tactile person, he had been since the very beginning, and he probably hadn’t ever realized what was happening, or that she touched him a lot more than the average person when they were around each other, but _Derek had_ noticed. He’d thought she might be supernatural, for a bit, that’s why his hackles would rise around her, but Stiles had laughed when he’d told him, assured him that he checked out everyone he came in contact with, and that she (her name was Madeline, but Derek way preferred referring to her as _she_ in his head) was nothing more than human, Derek was probably just feeling that way because he didn’t know her well enough.

“But in case you do meet him sometime, I have been hanging out with this vampire lately. Don’t worry, he’s good friends with the Aeile pack, he’s fine,” Stiles had followed up with, completely ignoring the fact that Derek had met a couple of his other friends that same day and didn’t feel at all weird about them.

And it never went away. Derek may not’ve met her a lot, but he’d been around her often enough to realize that he never felt better about her; she kept acting like…like Stiles was _hers_ , and Derek wasn’t possessive by any means, not really, but Stiles _was_ his, as much as _he_ as Stiles’. He tried not to pay much attention to it, to her, because Stiles liked her alright, and was apparently oblivious…except, Derek had been thinking lately, maybe he _wasn’t_. maybe – he didn’t like this line of thought at all because he trusted Stiles so completely and didn’t like to think he would betray that trust because he was really the only one who knew the entirety of Derek’s history of relationships and all the betrayal he’d endured – but maybe Stiles recognized Madeline’s interest in him, and maybe he even returned it.

Maybe his blowing off of Derek’s concern with Madeline had to do with the fact that Stiles was trying to hint to Derek that he was going to break up with him, maybe Stiles was with Madeline at this very moment, maybe Stiles was _cheating_ on him with her – which, no, that was where Derek drew the line, because he _knew_ that was something Stiles would never, ever do.

But maybe he’d thought about it, maybe – sometimes thoughts like this just filled Derek’s head because Stiles was – Stiles always has been – too good for him, and maybe Stiles was now realizing this and finding someone who was as selfless and incredible and intelligent as he was. Sometimes when he got like this he’d call Cora or Erica, who always told him he was an idiot, that Stiles was so in love with him that it was gag-worthy, but other times, like this one, he just curled up into a ball on their couch, all the things Stiles had said the previous night filling his head.

“So Maddie was saying the other day…”; “Oh my god you can’t guess was Mads did for her senior prank…”; “Okay but we need to watch the new season of House of Cards soon, Maddie said it’s _amazing_ ”. _God_ Stiles talked about her a lot.

Derek wondered if he had enough pride to break up with Stiles before Stiles broke up with him, and he sighed, because he knew he didn’t.

It was near two in the morning when Stiles got back, and Derek was still on the couch; he’d been attempting to do some writing on his senior thesis, but his wouldn’t stop running wild.

“You’re still up,” Stiles commented as he closed the door, locked it, and Derek’s known him long enough, seen him drink enough, that he knew that Stiles wasn’t drunk, just a bit tipsy. He smiled softly as he shed his coat, throws it on the chair as Derek closed his laptop, set it on the coffee table.

“Working on my thesis, lost track of time,” he replied, watching Stiles as he came over to the couch, leaned down to give Derek a peck.

“So m–” he started, but that was as far as he got before Derek pulled him back to kiss him deeper. Stiles fell forward, bringing his knees up to settle on either side of Derek, straddling him.

“Yeah?” he asked when they break apart, but Derek ignored him in favour of pressing kisses to his collarbone. He skimmed his hands up Stiles’ sides, under his shirt, and Stiles gave a little shiver in response.

“Hmmm,” he hummed, “Bedroom, I think.”

Derek stood up at that, fluidly picking Stiles up as he did, something which never failed so impress Stiles, as many times as Derek had done it. It wasn’t like Stiles _forgot_ that he boyfriend was a werewolf, it was just – okay, if he was being honest, it was kind of hot, that his boyfriend was strong enough to pick him up and carry him without any struggle.

He told Derek as much, whispered it in his ear just before he was thrown down on the bed, Derek climbing over him, kissing at his jaw as he pushed Stiles’ shirt up, trailing his fingers up his sides. Stiles gave a gasp when Derek nipped at his neck, one of his hands flying up from where it’d been on Derek’s ass to instead grip at his hair, hips arching up.

“Yeah, yeah,” he breathed out, reaching to do a quick pull/shove at Derek’s shirt, because fuck, he was super fucking impatient, okay, especially with the thought of getting his boyfriend’s dick inside of him.

“Hmm,” Derek hummed against Stiles’ jaw, sounding almost thoughtful. He pulled back to let Stiles get the shirt over his head, doing the same with Stiles’ a moment later. Stiles’ hands immediately found their way to Derek’s stomach and chest, because much like he had a sort-of thing for being manhandled, he similarly definitely had a thing for abs and stomachs – particularly Derek’s.

Not that Derek was much better, considering how he started kissing down Stiles’ chest moments later, breaking to suck at his nipple for just a moment, revelling in the way Stiles reacted – his nipples were super fucking sensitive, to the point that not long after they’d gotten together and just a few weeks after they’d started having sex, Stiles had come in his jeans within a few minutes, just because Derek had spent a short time playing with his nipples. He’d built up a bit more stamina since then, but even at twenty, if Derek devoted a little time to it Stiles could easily come, cock untouched, just from stimulation to his nipples. Sometimes, it was actual painful, how sensitive they were – most of the time, Derek would just give a little flick when Stiles was on the edge, and god damn if it didn’t always work.

Now though, he left it at that, a gasp and a small “fuck” from Stiles, moving to trail his lips over Stiles’ stomach, hands slowly unbuttoning his jeans, teasingly, as he looked up at him.

“Fuck you,” Stiles let out, breathily, bringing his own hands down to help with the job, shoving them a bit forcefully down his legs, pushing his boxers down with them. His cock fell against his stomach at the move, making a small sound which Derek softly laughed at as Stiles glared, kicking his legs to get his pants all the way off.

“Fucker,” Stiles muttered, no heat to it, smiling a bit himself as he pushed at Derek enough to get him on his back so Stiles could climb until he was straddling him, “Please, let me suck you off.”

Like Derek was going to turn down a blowjob, ever.

“Thank fuck,” Stiles whispered, pulling down the sweatpants Derek was wearing in one swift move, throwing them off the bed to join his jeans.

“Been thinking ‘bout this all fucking day,” Stiles said, almost a bit reverently, jerking Derek off with one hand, slowly, rough and dry, “Getting my mouth on you, god – ” and stopped there as he took Derek in. Graceful wasn’t a word often used to describe Stiles, he was naturally clumsy and seemed like he’d never grown into his limbs completely – but damn, Stiles sucked dick _gracefully_. Not only was he _good_ at it (was a natural, had taken only a couple of times before he was able to control his gag reflex – unless of course Derek was fucking his throat, and then he totally let himself go – and did all the right and good and brilliant things that had Derek _actually writhing_ and grasping at his hair as he came in record time), but Stiles’ also actively _loved_ it. Derek always felt a little bad, because he hated giving head – he had, a total of three times in their relationship – but when he’d told Stiles about that, early on (for some guys, whom he’d had nothing more than casual relations with, quite a few in New York and a couple in Beacon Hills, not giving blowjobs was a deal breaker, so he’d come to just tell people when he entered any type of sexual relationship with them), Stiles had laughed, said flippantly, “I love sucking dick enough for the both of us”. It was something Derek took lightly at first because Stiles had only had sex with females before Derek, but just five minutes after that remark Stiles was on his knees sucking Derek off, and yes, three years later he could be sure that Stiles really did love it.

 “Fuck,” Derek groaned, stopping himself just a moment from pushing his hips up. Stiles pulled himself off, dragging his tongue along Derek’s cock looking up with an expression as close to a smirk as he could manage, eyebrow raised and eyes sparkling. One of Derek’s hands pressed against the mattress, the other going to thread through Stiles’ hair. Stiles hummed at that, taking Derek back in and – god, Derek loved him, loved everything about him loved the way he looked with a cock in his mouth, loved the arguments they’d get in about things like the pros and cons of socialism, loved having sex with him and watching Netflix with him and making food for him and Derek just really loved Stiles, and god, he was getting emotional and Stiles pulled off him, jacking him with one hand, the other dragging down to his balls.

“You okay?” Stiles asked, looking mildly concerned, voice just the wrong side of wrecked. Derek looked down to him, blinking before nodding, breathing out, “Yeah”. Stiles grinned, finger sliding lower until it was lightly pressing against Derek’s hole.

“Can I?” he asked, eyes large and hopeful, tongue sliding along his bottom lip, and _fuck_ , Stiles was _too_ good. Derek closed his eyes, breathing another “yeah”, glad he’d taken that shower he’d debated earlier. Stiles’ hand immediately left his dick, spreading his ass instead.

“God, I love you,” he heard Stiles whisper, and Derek felt a pressure on his heart at the words. He was distracted a moment later when Stiles ran his tongue over Derek’s hole.

“Stiles,” Derek gasped out, shifting his hips up to give his boyfriend easier access – it wasn’t a comfortable position, but it wasn’t painful either, and the feeling of Stiles, his tongue pressing into him, the slight pressure of a finger along with it, more than made up for any uncomfortableness.

“God, you look good,” Stiles murmured, pressing his finger into Derek, “Love getting my tongue in you.” His head dipped back down at Derek’s moan, fucking his tongue into him intently, pressing in another finger to hold him open better. Derek closed his eyes again, claws poking out enough to press small holes into the sheets below him, but it wasn’t like he could find a care when Derek was eating him like _that_.

Stiles turned his head after a moment, pressing his mouth to the inside of Derek’s thigh and moaning lightly, whimpering out a “please, please say you’ll fuck me”. Derek looked to see one of his arms reached around, moving in such a way that – _fuck_ , Stiles’d been fingering himself as he ate Derek out, and _fuck_ , and _fuck yes_ and he nodded.

Derek let out a groan as Stiles sucked his cock down once before moving up Derek’s body, pushing one hand through his hair and kissing him roughly, sloppily, Derek’s hands moved to Stiles’ hips as Stiles took hold of his cock, lining up and sinking down slowly.

“Shit,” Stiles husked once his ass was flush with Derek’s hips, “Fuck, you feel so good. Taste good, feel good,” he pushed his legs up, Derek’s hands tightening on his hips as he pulled Stiles back down, Stiles letting out a choked off moan, “ _Fuck_ good.”

“Yeah?” Derek asked, biting at Stiles’ lip, dragging him off his cock again, fucking back into him quickly, getting another mewl from Stiles, “So tight, Stiles, so good, love fucking you.”

“Please, fuck, _harder_ ,” Stiles gasped, hand pressing to Derek’s chest, licking into his mouth with a moan as Derek did just that, “God, touch me, please.”

Derek hummed into Stiles’ mouth, pulling one hand away to pull at Stiles’ dick. Stiles made a sound in the back of his throat, pulling his mouth from Derek’s, eyes shut, resting his forehead against his boyfriend’s. His hips moved faster, fucking down onto Derek, stuttering after a minute as he came with a gasp. Derek continued to jerk him until he was whining at the stimulation. He moved his hand back to Stiles’ hip, fucking into him earnestly a couple of times before pulling him down, coming with a moan.

“Fucking hell,” Stiles said after a minute, looking down at Derek with sparkling eyes, moving off him and falling to the bed, “Miss me much?”

Derek grunted, turning and pulling Stiles closer, arm draped around his waist as he kissed him deeply.

“Always,” he replied as he pulled away, watching Stiles’ face light up a bit, rewarded with another kiss from Stiles.

“Love you,” he whispered against Derek’s lips, and the tightness in Derek’s chest loosened a little.

“You too,” he said back as Stiles lay his head on Derek’s bicep, breath and heartbeat evening out a moment later.

*****

Waking up to Stiles, half sprawled on Derek, snoring lightly, was something Derek felt he should’ve gotten used to a while ago, but waking up to _Stiles_ at all always made him smile. He blinked, looking down at his boyfriend still fast asleep with his head half on Derek’s chest, and – and his heart hurt, a bit. Stiles was – always had been, the type to make sure everyone around him was happy and comfortable and okay and not dead long before he’d worry at all about himself. Derek was scared that this – like everything – was like that.

He did his best not to move so as to not wake Stiles, but then he noticed the flaking layer of dried cum on his stomach, and – oh, yeah, gross, no. He carefully slid Stiles’ head off him, and – nope, he was blinking awake, head turned toward Derek, smiling lightly and stretching a bit.

“Morning,” he rasped before scrunching up his nose in disgust, wiggling his ass around a bit.

“I tried getting up to get a washcloth last night, but you’d already fallen asleep and latched onto me,” Derek told him with a small smile of his own. It was well known to those who’d been in the vicinity of a sleeping Stiles that he had a death-grip when asleep, one that could only be broken when he shifted in his sleep or woke up. Stiles huffed a laugh, sitting up enough to kiss Derek.

“Your breath is awful,” Derek said, and Stiles full out laughed at that, giving another peck as he climbed over the bed to sit on the edge next to Derek.

“Shower with me?” he asked, getting up and linking his hand around Derek’s wrist.

“Yeah,” Derek agreed, because damn it, he was going to make the most of this until – until –

“You going to tell me what’s wrong?” Stiles questioned once they were in the shower, picking up the shampoo bottle. Derek startled a little, taking the bottle from Stiles as he passed it off.

“Nothing,” he answered quickly, easily, only to get a snort from Stiles.

“I’ve known you for four years, been dating you for three, and have lived with you for two and you’re trying to pass off as if nothing’s wrong?” Stiles raised his eyebrows, rinsing his hair. Derek sighed, scrubbing his hands through his own hair.

“I just – I don’t want to be _that_ boyfriend.”

Stiles sighed this time, pushing the shower head so Derek could rinse his hair.

“Right now you’re being that boyfriend who won’t share his feelings and problems with me, which I don’t like a whole lot more than any type you think you are.”

Derek paused at that, picked up the bottle of body wash, taking some more before handing it to Stiles, who was still looking at him, expression concerned, somewhat hurt, a bit annoyed.

“You’ve been hanging out with your friends more and more often and…especially Madeline,” Derek finally told him, avoiding eye contact. Stiles was silent for a moment.

“You still don’t like Maddie,” is what he said, and Derek sighed again, looking up at him.

“She’s really into you, you know that?”

Stiles looked confused for a second before his expression cleared, and he shook his head.

“She was, yeah, asked me out about a week after we met. But I told her about you and how serious we were and she backed off. She’s over it.”

“No she’s not,” Derek replied immediately, shutting the water off, keeping his eyes on Stiles’, “Every time I’m out with you and she’s there she…acts like you’re _hers_ , sends me all these _looks_.”

Stiles was quiet again, staring at Derek with an expression that was a bit closed off.

“I’m yours, you know,” he whispered a minute later, and Derek nodded, giving him a small smile.

“I know,” he agreed, grabbing their towels and handing one to Stiles. Stiles took it, continuing to watch Derek as he started drying off.

“That’s all?”

Derek glanced at Stiles, had to look away a second later, but Stiles caught it.

“That’s not all,” he guessed, and Derek shook his head, climbing out of the shower.

“I just,” he started, hanging up his towel before he turned back to Stiles, “I don’t want you to feel like you…if Madeline’s someone you want to be with, even just a little bit – ”

“You’re an _idiot_ ,” Stiles interrupted, rolling his eyes as he climbed out of the shower, “I love _you_.”

“I know,” Derek told him again, “But you know she’d be better for you, she’s not seven years older than you or a werewolf or – ”

“We got together when I was seventeen and you were almost twenty four,” Stiles stopped him again, “You didn’t have that big a problem with the age gap then – ”

“Yes, I did, and you know it,” Derek reminded him, “I don’t want to get in the way of you having a halfway normal relationship just because you’re a really good person who doesn’t want to break my heart or because I’m the only person you’ve ever really been with.”

“You’re repeating the same arguments you gave me when I asked you to move with me. Except even worse, because – you know a lot about mates and mating.”

It seemed like a statement, but Stiles looked as if he expected an answer, so Derek nodded.

“Then you know that it affects all supernatural creatures, and even humans somewhat, who participate, even if it’s a were-animal thing mostly. But do you know who it affects the most after were-animals?”

Derek shook his head, wondering where this was going.

“Things with magical abilities, probably because everything about mating and the ceremony is magic,” Stiles said, “And guess who in this relationship is somewhat magical.”

Derek was quiet, considering.

“But we aren’t mates yet, anyway,” he pointed out, and Stiles rolled his eyes again.

“Don’t start that bullshit with me. I know you feel that pull already, the exact feelings that are associated with mates, and so do I, because there’s this thing that happens when two people are _meant_ to be together.”

“There’s no such thing as soulmates,” Derek retorted. It’d been something his mother had been careful to tell all of her children, because no matter what your wolf said mates were supposed to be and needed to be consensual.

“There is,” Stiles shook his head, “They’re rare, but they’re there.”

Derek stood there, quiet, because that – it did make sense, why he already felt the way he did.

“I’ll talk to Maddie about it, but Derek, _you_ are the most important person in my life, and,” he paused, sighed, “And communication is key, okay? I – want you to talk to me, let me know when something bothers you, even if you feel like you’re being – clingy, or whatever.”

Derek nodded, unsure what else to say. This was _Stiles_ , the love of his life, his _soulmate_ , for god’s sake.

“I love you,” Stiles told him, reaching over to kiss him softly.

“Love you, too.”

Stiles smiled at that, kissing him again.

“Make me breakfast?” he questioned hopefully, and Derek snorted, but nodded, kissing him again, just a little overwhelmed by the conversation.

It wasn’t until they were in the kitchen, Derek making eggs and bacon while Stiles did the coffee and toast, that Stiles spoke again.

“Y’know, I actually was waiting for you to break up with me the past couple of weeks.”

Derek turned quickly, nearly knocking the eggs off the counter in his haste to turn towards Stiles, who was leaning against the counter with a small, sad smile on his face.

“What?” he asked, unsure if he’d heard correctly, because that – didn’t make sense at all.

“You were just – distant.”

“I – thought the same thing about you,” Derek admitted.

“Only as a reaction to you,” Stiles said, biting his lip, “I started going out more because I thought you were getting sick of seeing me, and maybe if I gave you some distance it would be enough so you wouldn’t break up with me.”

“I thought you were going out more because you were getting sick of _me_ ,” Derek replied softly.

“Safe to say neither of us are planning to break up with the other nor are we avoiding each other at all.”

“Safe to say,” Derek agreed, “And – ” he paused, unsure, but Stiles encouraged him with a nod, an eyebrow raise, and an “And…?”

“And if you’ll have me we can do the official mating ceremony after your twenty-third birthday.”

Stiles answering grin was huge.

“Derek Hale, are you asking me to be your mate?”

Derek smiled in return.

“Yeah, I am.”

Stiles nearly launched himself at Derek, then, kissing him hard.

“Of course I’ll have you,” he said, letting out a small laugh before kissing Derek again.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it was totally my first time writing rimming I know it was short but thanks to schizzar for even putting the idea of writing it in my head.
> 
> find me at [asocialfoxpaw](http://asocialfoxpaw.tumblr.com/) or [onedirectionaremyfirstlove](http://onedirectionaremyfirstlove.tumblr.com/)


	3. you can hear it in the silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mating ceremony was…a lot like a small wedding, Stiles thought, taking a deep breath because it was five in the afternoon and the ceremony was only half done and he’d been up since five that morning (mostly his fault, because he’d woken up with butterflies in his stomach and a grin on his face and had prodded at Derek until he, too, was awake, kissing him deeply and whispering “you’re gonna be mine today” into his throat, and Derek had grunted back a “always have been”, but Stiles had grinned and kissed him again because this was different, this was real, this was mates).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finished! I'm happy with this outcome, with this fic, actually. gonna finish my Alpha Stiles series, and work on a sequel to "just the touch of a hand", and I'm also kinda writing something One Direction-related, so we'll see where those all fall out. 
> 
> chapter title from "You Are In Love" by Taylor Swift.

It was a couple of weeks after Stiles’ seventeenth birthday that he found out that for were-animals, _mates_ were a real possibility.

There were a lot of things, myths, he’d known about the supernatural before Scott had been bitten and his world had turned upside down. He’d always been into folklore, mythology, horror movies and stories, too, the whole shebang. But since the whole werewolf thing, he’d learned that while a lot of those things were _truth_ , or largely based on truth, a lot of them were also completely and totally false, so he pretty much didn’t believe anything until he’d been otherwise proven wrong (meaning: it was actually proven to him, like _yes_ succubae and incubi were real things, he’d seen them before his very eyes, or that he read about it in the bestiary or one of the many _real_ books about the supernatural loaned to him by either Derek, Peter or Deaton).

He was doing some more rough translations of the bestiary, the deeper parts of it that they hadn’t really touched yet (it was something he did when stressed and/or bored, because for whatever reason it helped him calm down, even if he didn’t have a full grasp on some of the languages the Argent ancestors had used). It was mostly jumbled parts of handwritten notes, nothing like other parts of the bestiary which were much more informative and written out. The languages jumbled together, notes had been crossed out, written over, sometimes ended in the middle of sentences or were just a few lines long.

He flipped to the next page of the pdf he had on his computer (there were five digital copies of the bestiary that Stiles was aware of; the Argents had one, and Allison had copied one for herself, Lydia, and Stiles, and Stiles had copied one over for Derek, because Derek knew all the languages used and Stiles thought he just needed one), sighing as he realized that these notes were completely different from the ones on the previous page, which had talked all about the fighting patterns of threatened vampires and had cut of mid-sentence, again. The words, though, caught his attention some – specifically, _loup-garou._

_Nous pensons les loups-garous ont une « anima conpar » (une âme sœur ?) ?_

Stiles’ hand moved quickly to the mouse, moving over to the document he’d been translating onto, searching for the pages he already had about _loups-garous_ , or werewolves, already translating in his head. He found the page quickly, where he’d left off, setting to a new paragraph which he titled **Anima Conpar?**

_We think the werewolves have an “anima conpar” (a soul sister?)?_

His eyes went back to the bestiary, looking at the notes that had been written underneath the initial sentence.

            _Confirmé, ils ont une cérémonie, comme un mariage, peut-être. Plus de recherches à faire._

_anima conpar – âme sœur, vita conjux, compagnon de vie, époux de vie ?_

_Utilisé les « animas conpars » ?_

_Peut-être, ils sont les humaines parfois._

_Humaines et loups-garous ! Est-ce que les humaines savoir sur les conditions ?_

_Le sujet, les cérémonies ? Avons-nous trouvé quelque chose d’utile à leur sujet ?_

The page stopped there, didn’t continue until the next page, where the subject had been moved on to something about uses of ground harpy claw. Stiles growled, a bit frustrated at the lack of information, but he translated away anyway.

_Confirmed, they have a ceremony, like a wedding. More research to be done._

_anima conpar –_

Stiles stopped, looked at the words again, recognized the language – Latin! He quickly pulled up a browser window, opened a translator – _life companion._

Oh. _Oh._ “âme sœur”, soul mate. Anima conpar – life companion. _Mate._ He looked back at the pdf, started translating again –

_anima conpar (life companion) – soul mate, life partner, life companion, life spouse?_

_Utilising the “life companion”?_

_Perhaps, they are humans sometimes_

_Humans and werewolves! Do the humans know about the conditions?_

_The subject, the ceremonies? Have we found anything about them?_

So, like, mates.

Which was definitely not a topic that had ever come up – in all actuality, there hadn’t been anything else in the bestiary he’d found yet that had anything to do with it. Had the theory been disproven? There wasn’t any way to tell how old different handwritten parts were, so he had no way of knowing if something had been decided about it, except that it wasn’t crossed out, and it completely _ended_ at that last sentence.

He turned to his bookshelf, pulling down an old book on lycanthropy Derek had given him some time back. It was in Greek, a language he only had the barest of grasps on, but it did have the recent addition of a very helpful index (also in Greek, unhelpfully), so it wouldn’t take him long to find if there was something about _mates_ in it.

He turned back to his computer, searching this time for an English to Greek translator, typing in all the possibilities: _mates, life companion, spouse, soul mate._ It spat back translations: σύντροφος, σύντροφος ζωής, σύζυγος, αδελφή ψυχή. He skimmed over the index, disappointed when he didn’t find any of the words, but he did one more time and – and sure enough, something caught his eye. The words αδελφή ψυχή – _soulmate._

He quickly found the page, flipped to it, eyes skimming over the page. It was short, there wasn’t a lot to it, something about a ceremony – ha! – something about…sex? he thought, something about…Stiles turned to his computer, translating a few words, and yeah. A mating bite, roughly translated.

_What do you know about mates??_ He texted Lydia, who texted back a couple of minutes later.

_You know we have that English essay due in four days._ Quickly followed by _And not much. There isn’t a lot about it in any of the older texts I’ve read, and with most of the modern texts I can’t tell what’s fiction and what’s fact, frankly._

_Like you’re doing the essay either_ he replies, pausing before typing out a _thanks_ as well.

So _mates_ , which threw an entire other _view_ on the werewolf thing, actually. He wondered if it was compulsory, if the werewolf got any say in who it was, because soulmates kind of meant it was up to fate, didn’t it? But then, regular old “mates” didn’t imply much – maybe Derek knew.

He was still on a bit of a rocky relationship with Derek, but since they’d started working on things a lot more together – especially after the whole thing with Deucalion and the Alpha pack, after Boyd and Erica and Cora almost died – everyone had sort-of become one pack, for real, with pack meetings. Since Derek had had to give up his Alpha to help Cora, too, he had technically been an Omega, which also left Boyd and Erica and Isaac vulnerable, Derek had stepped under Scott fairly easily after that, his own pack in mind, and they quickly assimilated to look to Scott as their Alpha.

So while Derek still definitely didn’t open up wholly, he was more helpful, and this was – this was mostly curiosity talking, because mating didn’t seem like something Stiles _urgently_ needed to know, life or death sort of a situation, but he was very _curious_ , because this was just interesting.

He went to Derek’s.

He could’ve just texted or called, probably, but Stiles thought that Derek might have more books about mates he might be willing to share; Derek, Stiles was well aware, had a _huge_ library, stuff that had been stored away from the house and therefore had made it through the fire, stuff he’d collected since then, some stuff he and Laura had gotten while in New York. 

And, okay, he would admit he kind of just wanted to see Derek. He definitely hadn’t opened up _totally_ , but Stiles had been there when Boyd and Erica had disappeared, when Cora had spontaneously shown up and – Derek’d shown something of himself in those situations, things none of them had seen before. He’d learned a lot about Derek’s past, and it was – Derek had always been really fucking attractive, obviously, from the very first moment Stiles and Scott had seen him in the woods, but as Stiles got to know him more, especially lately, he became something more than _attractive_ , and, shut up, Stiles might’ve gotten a _little bit_ of a crush on him.

“Hey,” Stiles said as Derek opened the door, eyebrows raised. Derek replied with a head nod, backing to allow Stiles into the loft.

“So…what’re you up to?”

Derek looked carefully at him as he shut the door.

“Just doing the dishes.”

Stiles nodded, “Need some help?”

Derek stared at him for another moment before raising one eyebrow. Stiles just smiled in response, and Derek led the way to the kitchen a moment later, throwing a “you can dry and put away” over his shoulder.

Derek handed him a dish towel, glancing over as he started washing a plate again. He stayed quiet, though, waiting, because Stiles would start talking if left to himself for a moment. Sure enough, it took only long enough for Derek to hand the plate to Stiles before he started talking.

“So…I was reading, and – ” he stopped, setting the plate down, seeing Derek’s face, where he’d stopped washing and was watching Stiles with an vulnerable face, “You okay dude?”

Derek glanced up at his face, still frozen, and then –

And then Derek was _kissing_ him, which – what the fuck?

Before he even processed the thought, Derek was pulling away, backing away and up to the counter opposite, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry Stiles, I – ”

Like shit was Stiles having any of _that_ , his mind working, all thoughts about _mates_ flying out in the face of _Derek fucking Hale just kissed him and was now_ apologizing _for it like he’d done something_ wrong _._

“Don’t,” he said, effectively cutting Derek off, “Don’t apologize unless you actually regret doing it, because if you don’t say something within the next five seconds we are _continuing_.”

Derek continued to stare at him with wide eyes, and Stiles looked back. A moment later he walked forward, slowly, toward Derek, nodding, uttering a small “okay” before he reached up, and kissed Derek, gently, slowly, until he melted into Stiles, hands settling on his hips.

“Okay,” he whispered back when they pulled apart, and Stiles’ smile was bright.

***

The mating ceremony was…a lot like a small wedding, Stiles thought, taking a deep breath because it was five in the afternoon and the ceremony was only half done and he’d been up since five that morning (mostly his fault, because he’d woken up with butterflies in his stomach and a grin on his face and had prodded at Derek until he, too, was awake, kissing him deeply and whispering “you’re gonna be mine today” into his throat, and Derek had grunted back a “always have been”, but Stiles had grinned and kissed him again because this was _different_ , this was _real_ , this was _mates_ ).

It was like a small wedding because the entire pack is there, all dressed up, Derek looking way too good in a vest and pants and a shirt, and there had been short vow-like things said before a reception-like dinner, provided by Melissa and Boyd and Lydia.

Of course, magic wasn’t a normal part of most weddings, Stiles supposed, and there had been some of that, as well. He gave a small sigh, leaning his head against Derek’s shoulder, who breaks briefly away from the conversation he’d been having with Melissa and Isaac to smile down at him. They were mostly just sitting around, slow conversation flowing, the general vibe very chill and easy, and Stiles figured that it has something to do with his own contentedness, maybe Derek’s too, everyone else in the pack feeding off those feelings, and it felt _so fucking nice_.

The reality was that he was pretty tired, already, and the entire thing was only half over. The rest of it – the part that required, according to the literature, “a full moon” and “a melding of body and soul, turning two into one” – would actually have to wait until sunset, would include more magic and _biting_ that would leave permanent marks and – and Stiles was ready for that, so ready to finally be Derek’s _everything_ , even more so than he knew he already was.

The fact was – the fact was – that this entire part, the ceremony with the pack, all of that – didn’t have to be done, at all, in public. They could’ve done the entire thing in private, that night, as the full moon arrived and all the other romantic and magical-sounding things the texts had listed, but Derek had quietly, one night not long after Stiles’ twenty-third birthday when they’d started planning out when they wanted to do it (Stiles had pretty much attacked Derek on the morning of his twenty-third birthday, kissing him very thoroughly and telling him “I’m twenty three now and I still want you”, and after all of it, after all the years and confessions and everything, Derek wasn’t going to even think about arguing) asked him if they could have that part, with the pack, because it was tradition and one that his family had followed and – and like _Stiles_ was going to deny the love of his life, his very soulmate, _that_. He’d of course said sure, so long as they could do it within a couple of weeks, and Derek had given the tiniest roll of his eyes but had also grinned hugely.

The _waiting_ , though, the waiting for night to fall, that had to be the hardest thing Stiles had ever experienced – which, okay, was a bit of a hyperbole considering all the shit they’d all gone through in high school and the first year of college (hippogriffs, man), but it was still hard to wait, because Stiles _wanted_. He’d been waiting since he was – since was seventeen, at least, since a few months after he and Derek had started dating, since he’d realized how in love with Derek he was, and he’d just gotten more and more certain since that moment that this was definitely something that he wanted.

The waiting wasn’t too terrible, though, because in just a couple of hours they were back at their apartment, Derek standing watching as Stiles laid out everything on the coffee table, the jasmine and orris root and the elixir that had been prepared and spelled the week before by an old druid friend of Mrs. Yukimura’s who’d been passing through town (Stiles was pretty proud of where he was with his magic, but he didn’t want to risk doing that spell wrong). He opened the bottle of elixir, sprinkling the orris powder in.

“Okay,” Stiles said, taking a deep breath, looking up to Derek with bright, sparkling eyes, “You ready?”

Derek nodded, smiling softly, “Never been more ready.”

Stiles grinned in response, lifting the bottle to his mouth and taking a drink. He made a face as he swallowed, handing it over to Derek with, “Tastes like anise and vanilla and burnt coffee.”

Derek drank the rest of the bottle down, in complete agreement with Stiles about the taste; it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant, either. He set the empty container back on the coffee table as Stiles picked up the dried jasmine, crushing it between his fingers and holding out his other hand for Derek.

“C’mon. Bedroom.”

Derek took his hand, following Stiles down the hall. Stiles could feel the effects of the elixir, the magic, starting to take hold, hot and light and just starting to thrum through his veins, as he sprinkled the dried jasmine on the bed before he turned to Derek.

“I love you,” he told him, and Derek’s smile nearly split his face.

“I love you too,” he replied, leaning forward to kiss him. Stiles let go of Derek’s hand, his arms going up to link behind Derek’s neck, deepening their kiss.

“Make me yours,” he whispered as they broke apart, and Derek gave a small half-growl, half-whine at that, hands scrabbling immediately to pull at Stiles’ shirt, and Stiles could _feel_ it all, in a way much deeper than he ever had before; his own want, Derek’s want, the neediness, the absolute contentedness and happiness and the soft buzz of energy, a new and open connection to Derek like he’d never felt before.

He laughed, high on the entire experience, letting Derek start to unbutton his shirt, only to get frustrated half way through and slice a claw through the rest of it (it wasn’t like Stiles wasn’t used to that, and he just laughed again as Derek pulled it the rest of the way off). His hand immediately fell to Stiles’ pants, undoing them with practiced precision, letting them fall to the ground before he gently pushed Stiles back onto the bed, dragging his mouth from Stiles’ down to his throat, gently nipping at the spot behind his right ear where the mating bite would go.

Stiles made a noise at that, body alight with energy. He slid his hands under Derek’s shirt, skimming up his sides.

“C’mon,” he said softly as Derek continued trailing kisses down his collarbone, “Off.”

Derek kissed him again before he sat up, quickly stripping his shirt off, throwing it over to join Stiles’ clothes, climbing off the bed top push his pants down, his underwear too, and – and fuck, Stiles thought, watching him, this man was _his_ – his boyfriend, soon to be his mate, and – and god, Stiles wanted him in all the possible ways, wanted to show Derek how much he wanted to be _his_ , in all possible ways.

Derek climbed back on the bed, head dipping down to kiss Stiles again as he pushed Stiles’ boxers down, hand finding his cock immediately, and –

“Fucking hell,” Stiles moaned, arching off the bed, because he felt fucking _incredible_. Derek grinned into his neck, sliding his hand up Stiles’ cock a couple of times, whispering “God, I need to fuck you” in his ear and _fuck_ , Stiles had never liked a plan so much.

“Fuck, please,” he whimpered, his entire body thrumming, nerves feeling on fire. Derek laughed this time, and a moment later a finger slid down Stiles’ perineum, gently pressing into him, and god fuck, Stiles had never wanted sex to be over so quickly, knowing how brilliant it was going to feel, but he also wanted it to last _forever_ , bright and absolutely incredible as magic-enhanced sex was.

Derek shuffled down the bed some, taking Stiles into his mouth without warning, finger pressing further into him.

“Shit, Derek,” Stiles moaned, one hand twining in Derek’s hair, the other gripping the sheets. Derek dragged his tongue up Stiles’ cock, gently pressing a second finger into him, and god, it was such a brilliant and odd feeling, feeling both his own neediness and Derek’s open want, and Stiles had never been more turned on in his entire life, and he’d been having regular sex with Derek for six years.

Derek worked his fingers deeper, pressing and sliding, abandoning Stiles’ cock in favour of biting at his hipbone.

“Want you so bad,” Derek murmured into Stiles’ thigh, pulling his fingers out. Stiles whined, only for Derek to press back in a moment later with three fingers, slicker than before.

“So tight, Stiles, feel so good around my fingers,” Derek told him, sliding his mouth over his cock again. Stiles replied with a long groan as Derek opened him up around his fingers.

“Fuck me, Derek, god, please,” he pleaded after a moment, pressing his hips down to meet Derek’s fingers, only willing to give up the feeling knowing Derek’s cock would be so much better.

Derek slid his fingers out, pulling away to quickly slick himself up before grabbing Stiles’ hips, tipping them up just enough to easily slide into him, slowly. He paused, hips flush with Stiles, leaning down to kiss him again, roaming his mouth until Stiles was pressing his hips down again, whining in the back of his throat.

“Please, fuck me, I need – ” Stiles cut off as Derek pulled back, sliding out of Stiles slowly, only to thrust back in, Stiles pressing against him in return.

“Shit,” was all the more intelligible words Stiles could get out, Derek rolling his hips into him. It was only a couple short minutes, Derek fucking him in earnest, before Stiles felt so fucking ready to come, the feeling of Derek’s cock sliding in and out of him too intense, too good, and he knew Derek was close too, both because he could _feel_ it and because Derek was slowly kissing up his neck, a very gentle press of barely-there fangs, and then –

Derek was coming, fangs dipping carefully, shallowly, into that spot behind Stiles’ ear, a sudden rush of energy slipping through Stiles body from the bite, the accompanying sting and grip of Derek’s hands on his hips enough to make Stiles come, too, spilling all over his stomach, and yeah, it was as brilliant as he’d thought it would be.

Derek fell, rather ungracefully, next to Stiles, slipping out of him; his eyes were glowing bright blue, and Stiles could feel his own shining the soft purple the sometimes did when he did magic.

“Hey,” Derek said after a moment, tipping his own head to the side. Stiles bit softly with his blunt human teeth, but the effect was instantaneous, a barely-there scar forming, another new rush filling him. He plopped back down on the bed then, watching Derek’s eyes slowly going back to normal, feeling the energy seep from his body. He felt more energized than before, in a softer, calmer way, connected as Derek reached over, grabbed his hand.

His heart was still racing, but over it Stiles could feel things, incredible things, a happiness and contentedness stronger than he’d ever been able to feel from Derek, much, much stronger than the pack bond. It was more incredible than it’d been before, even more intense, and his eyes were wide as he stared at Derek, who stared back with a soft smile.

“This is incredible,” he commented after a moment, “Please tell me it’ll always be like this.”

Derek’s smile got a bit wider at that, and he nodded.

“I think…part of it was the magic, but I think it’ll always be pretty intense. My parents were mated and…they never explained it fully but I think it was kind of like this. They could usually tell what each other’s moods were like, feel when one of them was hurt, always in tune.”

They were silent for another moment, quietly looking at each other.

“I didn’t think it was possible to be even more in love with you, but I am,” Stiles told him, and Derek huffed softly, leaning over to kiss him.

“Me too.”

“You should marry me,” Stiles blurted out then, and at Derek’s raised eyebrows continued on quickly, “I know things like that don’t mean a lot to you, especially because we’re already mated, but it’s like – ”

“Stiles,” Derek interrupted, placing another soft kiss to Stiles’ lips, “Yes.”

Stiles’ replying grin was bright enough to light the room.

“I don’t have a ring or anything, I wasn’t planning this, but – but yeah. I want to marry you.”

“I want to marry you, too,” Derek told him, and Stiles nodded, putting his head on Derek’s shoulder.

“I love you,” Stiles whispered a few moments later, eyes closed but smile on his face. Derek kissed the top of his head, replying with “I love you too” and Stiles quieted, letting himself bask in the thought that he was actually, really mated to this man, now his fiancée, and in a year, maybe, he’d have him, in all the possible ways. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me at [asocialfoxpaw](http://asocialfoxpaw.tumblr.com/) or [onedirectionaremyfirstlove](http://onedirectionaremyfirstlove.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Extra: 
> 
> It was a couple weeks after Stiles’ eighteenth birthday that he dropped the bomb on his dad, over a dinner of grilled chicken and his mom’s pasta salad, a favourite of his dad’s.
> 
> “So I think you should know that I’m dating Derek Hale.”
> 
> The Sheriff had hummed around a piece of chicken. 
> 
> “Good man,” he commented after he swallowed. Stiles was quiet, and when John looked up his son was looking at him with a little shock, as if he’d expected a different reaction. He chuckled, piercing a noodle with his fork.
> 
> “You didn’t think I didn’t know already?” he asked, and Stiles’ eyes bulged out. 
> 
> “You knew?”
> 
> “’Course I did. Not the Sheriff for no reason. Plus I saw Scott at the store one time when you said you were hanging out with him.” He put a piece of pasta in his mouth, chewing contemplatively. “Not hard to put together.”
> 
> “You never said anything,” Stiles accused, and John shrugged. 
> 
> “Thought you were scared of telling me you were dating a man. Figured I’d wait for you to come to me.”
> 
> “I was scared of telling you I was dating Derek Hale,” Stiles told him, “Y’know, twenty-five year old werewolf who’s been arrested more than a handful of times?”
> 
> “Never charged, though. He was always cleared,” John pointed out, and Stiles just stared at him, “Anyway, you know I was ten years older than your mother, and we started dating when she was only seventeen.” He raised his eyebrows. “Would you rather me be shocked and mad?”
> 
> “No, no,” Stiles asserted quickly, “Just…shocked you aren’t. Happy you aren’t, but shocked.”
> 
> There were a few moments of silence, and John picked up his water, took a drink. 
> 
> “Oh, I also asked him to move down to Palo Alto with me,” Stiles inserted casually. This time, John spit out his water with a “What?”
> 
>  
> 
> ****
> 
> find me at [asocialfoxpaw](http://asocialfoxpaw.tumblr.com/) and [onedirectionaremyfirstlove](http://onedirectionaremyfirstlove.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and yeah, this'll definitely be continued, a chapter or two more, hopefully I'll get around to updating within the next week? Let me know if there are any mistakes, thanks.


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